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Company demonstrates that rare cell populations obtained with its LiquidBiopsy™ platform can be sequenced without using bias-inducing whole genome amplification (WGA). Company will report experimental data on how WGA-induced biasing impairs effective analysis of oncogenic mutations in CTCs at the IBC Life Sciences Summit on August 6, 2012 in San Francisco.

Cynvenio Biosystems, Inc., a developer of rare cell isolation systems for biomedical research, personalized medicine and molecular diagnosis of cancer, today announced the ability to enable next generation sequencing of rare cell populations without the need for additional amplification steps. Cynvenio’s automated LiquidBiopsy™ cell isolation platform recovers circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood with sufficiently high specificity and low non-target cell capture rates to enable next generation sequence of the rare cell populations without the need for whole genome amplification (WGA). Using this newly developed approach, Cynvenio has validated protocols for the detection of mutant alleles with frequencies as low as 1.25% for analysis of patient CTC populations.

Recently concluded Cynvenio research has demonstrated that the use of WGA introduces locus-specific and allele-specific biasing during amplification. Furthermore, WGA-treated samples show many amplification-dependent mutational artifacts, including neutral substitutions, synonymous and non-synonymous mutations, and insertions/deletions not found in the original sample, severely hampering the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.

William Strauss, Ph.D., Cynvenio’s Principal Research Scientist, will present the new findings in a talk entitled “Molecular Analysis of Oncogenic Mutations in Blood-Derived CTC” on August 6, 2012 at 2:55PM at the Next-Gen Sequencing Applications & Translational Technologies Summit during IBC Life Sciences’ Drug Discovery & Diagnostic Development week in San Francisco, California.

"This is incredibly compelling work," said Andre’ de Fusco, Cynvenio’s CEO. "Our team was the first to sequence CTCs from whole blood using Life Technologies’ Ion Torrent PGM™ platform. Now, by eliminating WGA from the workflow we can provide rapid-turnaround analysis of CTCs and deliver actionable SNP sequence information to support genomic research, accelerated clinical discoveries, longitudinal patient monitoring and the selection of targeted therapies. This type of development benefits the entire oncology research community and, most importantly, cancer patients and their physicians who need to see rapid advances in the field."

William Strauss, Ph.D. is a molecular biologist with over 20 years of experience in eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems. Trained in chemistry at Columbia, and in genetics and immunology at Harvard, Dr. Strauss received his post-doctoral training at MIT in the Whitehead Institute. His independent research has focused on the interface between stem/iPS cell biology and molecular biology. In Boston, Colorado, and San Diego he has employed advanced genomic technologies, including deep sequencing, to determine the properties of different human and mouse stem cell populations.

About Cynvenio Biosystems, Inc.

Cynvenio Biosystems, Inc. has developed the LiquidBiopsy™ platform, a high performance rare cell isolation technology for biomedical research and novel cancer diagnostics. Designed to enable the mutational profiling of cancer via next generation sequencing, LiquidBiopsy™ is a key enabling technology to realize the promise of personalized medicine. Cynvenio’s mission is to deliver the tools for the early detection of disease, real time patient monitoring by means of a simple blood draw, and the selection of genetically matched therapeutic solutions. Cynvenio is based in Westlake Village, California and is privately held. Find out more about the company here: http://www.cynvenio.com and http://www.liquidbiopsy.com.